We have had two very encouraging decisions in the courts this week. First, San Mateo Superior Court Judge Beth Labson Freeman upheld LAFCo and County Elections on their conduct of the protest process for the MROSD (Mid-Peninsula Regional Open Space District) coastal expansion. And today, the California Supreme Court rejected Big Creek Lumber’s petition for a rehearing on their decision to uphold the Santa Cruz and San Mateo County ordinances on timber harvesting.
We all (and especially CGF Board Member April Vargas) can take a great deal of satisfaction in our role with the LAFCo protest process. Without our involvement, the opponents could very well have prevailed.
We have Karen McEwan Johnson and her team at the Orrick law firm to thank for their Amicus brief on behalf of CGF and other environmental groups in that significant decision, which upheld the proposition that although the State has authority over how timber harvesting is conducted, counties may regulate where it can be allowed.
-Lennie
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